


The Mutilated Soldier

by magicianparrish



Series: Halloween PJO Challenge [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Frank is a general in the Chinese army, Halloween AU, this is historical fiction, warrior au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 20:17:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5062600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicianparrish/pseuds/magicianparrish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frank is the General of the Chinese Imperial Army.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Mutilated Soldier

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first work of my Halloween PJO Series. I will post a new one-shot based off 9 demigods (Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Leo, Hazel, Frank, Piper, Nico and Reyna if it wasn't clear). Each one takes place during a historical time, around an historical event. 
> 
> It's based off of lmpadora's pjo halloween challenge and her awesome drawings. Which I highly, highly suggest you check out. 
> 
> Some context: Takes place in 154 BC. Conflict is this little war called The Rebellion of the Seven States. It was an actual conflict between Seven Chinese Princes wanting to stop the Emperor of China from centralizing the Chinese government.  
> Also for the sake of the historical background, Frank will be called Zhang Fai. 
> 
> Key Terms and People to know: 
> 
> Emperor Jing- Emperor at the time of the conflict coming from the Han Dynasty
> 
> Xia- an ancient name for China 
> 
> Qin Shi Huang- The First Emperor of China

**154 BC, Eastern China**

War was on the horizon. The Seven Princes were starting to militarize their armies to defeat the great Han Dynasty. Zhang Fai, a prominent military leader for Emperor Jing had asked him to come back for service. He had come from a long line of strong leaders for the Chinese Imperial Army and would do anything for his country.

Zhang Fai walked up to the jade doors leading to the throne room of the Emperor. The two men guarding the doors stood up straight and bowed down to Zhang Fai as a form of respect. Keeping a stone face he did the same before the doors opened up before him. In the back of the room, sitting on a jade and gold throne was Emperor Jing in his regal robes.

Fire in bronze torches were lighting up the room dimly casting shadows over everything in sight. Emperor Jing sat with his back straight radiating power from the seat. Zhang Fai walked up and got down on his knee and bowed his head as a sign of great respect. There was silence for a few moments.

“My greatest general, stand up before me,” he commanded.

Zhang Fai stood up his right hand going over to where his sword was strapped to his hip. He wasn’t in his military uniform, but he had just traveled far from his home in Northern China and was in his commoner clothes. He didn’t dare speak until he was requested to do so.

“As you know, there is a rebellion in the works,” Emperor Jing began.

Zhang Fai nodded his head in acknowledgment. He knew all about the rebellion that was starting. He figured he would be called in to crush it before it got out of hand. He glanced up at the Emperor’s stone eyes.

“I need you to rally up your troops and head out to the battle ground to crush these petty princes.”

“When would you like me to head out by my Emperor?” Zhang Fai asked.

“As soon as possible. Dismissed.”

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Zhang Fai was mounted on his chestnut horse standing above his cohort. He was wearing the traditional armor made of a coat of plates covering his bulky torso, with lamellar armor on top of it. His helmet was painted black with gold and made out of steel with red horse plume coming from the top.

He held the reins of his horse tightly as he was going back and forth on the hill above his soldiers. They were well trained by himself, disciplined like no other cohort in the Imperial Army. They all stood up straight and uniform before him making sure they were all ready for battle. Zhang Fai took his hands off the reins to grab his quiver from his shoulder. He raised it high into the air.

“Soldiers!” he boomed.

The echo of their armor moving to salute him in uniform filled Zhang Fai with pride for his fellow men. They all stood stiff and looked like statues on the battle ground. There was at least two thousand underneath his orders.

“My fellow comrades, today we fight for our Emperor. Our Emperor who has given us everything we have and who the gods from above have sent down to represent our people and keep the pride of Xia in tact!” Zhang Fai screamed for all to hear.

All his soldiers in response yelled back with enthusiasm to lay down their life for their Emperor and nation. He had trained them well and he was proud of every single man down there. His men were from all different places, with different backgrounds and statuses. Some were just peasant farmers who looked to leave their farm, others were from wealthy families there to honor their ancestors and family bloodline. Zhang Fai was one of those men. The Zhang bloodline has been filled with men warriors all the way back to the Zhou dynasty and Zhang Fai was not going to break that tradition.

He turned his horse away from his men to see the opponents on the opposite side of the open plain. There weren’t nearly as many men on that side, and they didn’t look as organized. To Zhang Fai, they looked like a militia of the Prince’s royal subjects. Zhang Fai sensed an easy victory today.

In the distance, a horn was blowing signalling the start of the battle. Zhang Fai turned around and pointed his bow to the horn bearer who did the same. He did a battle cry and ordered all his men to charge. The rest of the cavalry rode on their horses, drawing and notching their first arrows and letting them fly.

The clash of swords and the ripping of flesh was amplified on the battlefield. Archers on horseback stayed towards the edges of the fight notching arrows and killing from a distance. Zhang Fai, an archer himself did that when he was only a cadet in the army. Now that he was a general, he couldn’t stay back while his men get killed. If he was going to die in an honorable way, he would have to die with his men.

An arrow caught his horse making his steed go down with a anguished scream coming from him. Zhang Fai jumped off and rolled to the ground before jumping back into it again. It was complete chaos with screams coming from every direction.

He started running and shooting every soldier who came near him. He had deadly accuracy and never missed a shot. But he soon ran out of arrows in his quiver, giving him no choice but to yank the ones he used out of the dead corpses and store them back into his quiver again. But he knew that shooting his opponents would be only effective for a short time. He strapped his bow onto his back and took out his sword out of its sheath. Zhang Fai immediately swung down on an opponent with a roar. His head was cut clean off his neck and laid in a puddle of crimson.

This exact moment was what he trained for his entire life. Given away to the military from a young age by his mother, he was raised at a military camp. It was pounded into his head time and time again that he would fight and give his life to the Emperor so that he may make his descendants proud. All that training was coming into play right now in the midst of this bloody battle.

He ran through the chaos slashing and hacking any enemy that came his way. Zhang Fai had this feeling of confidence flow over him. Everything he saw was crystal clear and he could spot every minuscule detail on the battlefield. Normally Zhang Fai wasn’t one for extreme violence, he was more passive. But he knew that his Emperor needed him and his services. Men kept dying at the hands of his sword. Their screams of pain echoed inside his ears.

As he scanned the battleground, the grass was stained red. Bodies from both sides piled on each other and scattered across the flat land. The stench of death hung heavily in the air as the last of the soldiers on both sides fought valiantly for their causes.

Suddenly Zhang Fai felt something pierce his armor and go through his abdomen. He was shocked as he looked down and saw the tip of a spear peaking out with his blood on it. From inside the armor he could feel his blood dripping down his body like the Huang Ho river. He slowly turned around to find the culprit only to see him dead on the ground as well. A second later he felt an arrow pierced his eye and go through his skull. Zhang Fai dropped to his knees in an agonizing cry of pain. He was withering on the ground in a river of red. He could feel his soul getting ready to leave his mortal body.

Zhang Fai heard the voice of his lieutenant crying out to him. In a state of haze he could see the faint shadow of him. He was fussing over the general. Zhang Fai gave a small smile to his loyal lieutenant.

“You are in charge now,” he muttered.

The man took a deep breath and nodded. He looked up searching for the remaining soldiers fighting on the ground. The sun was going down in the west signaling the end of the first day of battle. All the men on both sides started retreating to their camps. Zhang Fai felt his soldiers pick him up and start walking. But he was going in and out of consciousness and couldn’t tell left from right and up from down. The pain of the spear and arrow had numbed at this point to a dull throb. He felt himself lying down on a table.

“He is the best general we have. We cannot afford to lose him,” a hushed voice came.         

“I was hoping to never have to use this, but I do not think we have a choice,” another whispered.

“The Emperor himself gave this to me to ensure that General Zhang does not die before winning.”

“If we must, then we shall. Give it to me please.”

Zhang Fai could make out the shadows of two figures hunched over him. There was a red glow coming from the hands of the man on his left. The red glow slowly got closer to him until it was placed into his eye socket where his right eye once was. Instantly Zhang Fai’s back arched up and he screamed in pain. The two men pushed him down back onto the table trying to stabilize him.

“General Zhang the pain shall only last a moment,” the man’s calm voice said.

“With the stone of Qin Shi Huang, you shall be our secret weapon,” the other muttered.

A calm came across Zhang Fai and he felt stronger than ever before closing his eyes on the table.

Zhang Fai should’ve died that day in battle. It would’ve been a warrior's death, worthy of stories for generations to come. Instead he would become a myth that would scare children. He was the mutilated soldier.

**Author's Note:**

> There you go! Tomorrow is Reyna's story. 
> 
> Thank you! xoxo


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